Aurigo Software Technologies, a US-based management solutions provider for construction and capital-intensive projects like sea ports and airports, is bullish on the Indian market and expects to clinch close to 80 key infrastructure customers in the next 24 months.
“The road map is clear for us. For India, the growth is in infrastructure and the government is spending unprecedented money, with 11 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) being invested in capital-intensive projects, while it is 4-5 per cent in the US. India is currently in a phase, which the US went through in the early 70s,” Balaji Sreenivasan, founder and chief executive officer of Aurigo Software, told Business Standard.
Aurigo, which entered the Indian market in January 2008, has its research and development base headquartered in Bangalore, employing 48 professional. The company currently has 22 customers in India, which include Nagarjuna Construction Company, SNC Power Corp, RDS Projects, Unity Infra and KMC Power.
Sreenivasan was in Hyderabad to deliver his address on ‘Infrastructure projects and the need for automation’ at the 2nd national conference on India Roads 2010 on Wednesday.
He said the company was looking at the special purpose vehicles (SPVs) being started in the country as prospective customers for its flagship product BRIX 2009.
The suite, which is offered through both hosted and on-premise models, comprises construction management, GIS and GPS and inspection modules. It helps owners, construction management companies and contractors in building and managing large capital-intensive projects, giving a cost saving of 5-6 per cent per project.
“At present, we are in talks with the Visakhapatnam Port Trust and the Southern Railways for closing deals. Also, most of the SPVs, with revenues of Rs 200 crore now, are set to become Rs 1,000-crore companies in the next three years. These old SMEs, which are expected to turn into large enterprises, are our target audience,” he said.
Over Rs 15,000 crore is to be spent on capital-intensive projects in India over the next five years. The IT spend on this is likely to account for around 2 per cent of which about 30 per cent would go into project management tools.
The closely-held company, which raised $8 million (around Rs 37 crore) venture capital fund six years ago, expects to see 70 per cent growth in revenues every year in the next two years.
